Forestbrook has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Only 1% work in Forestbrook itself; outside it, Myrtle Beach draws the most (26%, 5 miles). Employers in Forestbrook report 687 jobs, against 2,799 working residents. Jobs and income earn Forestbrook B−; getting around on foot earns it C−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Forestbrook apart on work
Forestbrook makes and builds things
45% of the jobs based in Forestbrook are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Forestbrook residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 8%. The jobs ↓
Forestbrook is a place people come home to
There are 687 jobs based in Forestbrook, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Forestbrook has about 5,400 people in it, 28% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
The jobs in Forestbrook pay better than its residents’ jobs
63% of the jobs based in Forestbrook pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 47% of the jobs Forestbrook residents hold. 94% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Forestbrook. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Forestbrook’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Forestbrook is better than 53% of U.S. towns, #55 of 168 in South Carolina. The poverty rate holds Forestbrook’s grade up (6.8%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (7.1%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Forestbrook could be anywhere from C to A.
In Forestbrook, 45% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Forestbrook, 2013 → 2023: 232 → 687. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Forestbrook’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves Forestbrook for work, and who comes in
On a workday 2,760 residents head out to work, 39 work right here, and 648 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,400 people are in Forestbrook on a workday afternoon, 28% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Out of Forestbrook to work: where people go
Where Forestbrook clocks in
26% of workers
13% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
The trip to work from Forestbrook: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Forestbrook workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,183 commuters (the 9% who work from home are left out). Across South Carolina: 86% drive alone, <1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Forestbrook
About 22% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Forestbrook, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Forestbrook is more walkable than 25% of U.S. towns, #142 of 169 in South Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 2.4% across South Carolina.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,494 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 12.2% of Forestbrook households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Forestbrook’s commuters take a bus or train.
Forestbrook next to U.S. towns of 5,200 to 10,100: 1,708th of 3,125 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 227 | Lake Murray of Richland SC | 7,023 | $119K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 957 | Blythewood SC | 7,233 | $94K | 4.8% | 5.0% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,058 | Murrells Inlet SC | 10,044 | $77K | 7.3% | 2.0% | 13% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,706 | Bloomer Township MI | 6,567 | $86K | 9.1% | 2.5% | 4% | B− |
| 1,707 | Kula HI | 6,791 | $100K | 12.3% | 2.6% | 7% | B− |
| 1,708 | Forestbrook SC | 7,479 | $81K | 6.8% | 7.1% | 1% | B− |
| 1,709 | Flagler Beach FL | 5,595 | $85K | 8.4% | 2.8% | 11% | B− |
| 1,710 | Plaquemine LA | 5,891 | $69K | 12.7% | 3.8% | 10% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,125 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Forestbrook, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Forestbrook: questions
What is the median household income in Forestbrook?
$81,286 (±$10,107) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Forestbrook?
6.8%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Forestbrook?
25 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Forestbrook work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Myrtle Beach (26%, 5 mi), Conway (13%, 9 mi), North Myrtle Beach (4%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Forestbrook walkable?
Forestbrook is more walkable than 25% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Forestbrook without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Forestbrook, from the people who make the trip.
More of Forestbrook
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.